Bloated Government

[Dunroamin]

This seems to sum up the modd.................

 

A guy goes to the Post Office to apply for a job.

 

The interviewer asks him, 'Are you allergic to anything?'

 

He says, 'Yes - caffeine.'

 

'Have you ever been in the service?'

 

'Yes,' he says. 'I was in Iraq for two years.'

 

The interviewer says, 'That will give you 5 extra points toward employment,' and then asks, 'Are you disabled in any way?'

 

The guy says, 'Yes, 100% . . .an IED exploded near me and blew my testicles off.'

 

The interviewer tells the guy, 'O.K. In that case, I can hire you right now. Normal hours are from 8 AM to 4 PM. You can start tomorrow at 10:00 AM - and plan on starting at 10 AM every day.'

 

The guy is puzzled and says, 'If the hours are from 8 AM to 4 PM, why don't you want me to be here before 10 AM?'

 

‘This is a government job,' the interviewer says. 'For the first two hours we just stand around drinking coffee and scratching our balls. No point in you coming in for that.'

[La_Dolce_Vita]

No point trying to argue with a left wing groupie that if there were no employers putting up the risk money to start the businesses, there would be no employment. Or that employees tend to be employees because they like a wage rather than risking their families future by starting their own business.

 

So I will not try....................

 

You are making the assumption that I don't already know all this and have absolutely no idea how the capitalist system works, I do live in the system, get paid a wage and recognise who owns things and understand the implications of taking risks. But I oppose that system. You support it and seem to imply that you think the capitalist class actually does the people employed a favour. I think this cannot be more untrue.

[hboy]

In a sense, I am glad these people have job security which is more that can be said for anyone employed in the private sector.

 

Well people have to be interested and not be alienated by their work in order to do well, unless their welfare is at risk if they don't perform as would be the case in the private sector. I suppose here you don't have the 'stick' to make people do work that they are bored of and don't have a lot of.

But I would personally find working in a lot of areas of government less alienating than working in the private sector. At least you can say that to an extent (depending on your role and type of service) you are providing a service to the people and not getting some people rich.

 

You sound like the sort of dull, jumped up, patronising slacker with a chip on his shoulder that would do well in government. You could sit their boring the arse off your co-workers about Marx and spend taxpayers money going on 5 courses a year to qualify you to do exactly nothing. Within just a few years you could become an expert on absolutely fuck all and end up running our road system.

[La_Dolce_Vita]

You sound like the sort of dull, jumped up, patronising slacker with a chip on his shoulder that would do well in government. You could sit their boring the arse off your co-workers about Marx and spend taxpayers money going on 5 courses a year to qualify you to do exactly nothing. Within just a few years you could become an expert on absolutely fuck all and end up running our road system.

 

Haha, I am beginning to wonder whether it is you who has what could be more accurately called a chip on their shoulder Hboy (whereas I just don't like the current system for very good reasons), you do mention university a lot. Did you want to go there? What happened? Poor you. (Maybe it is you need help to put into words how much you cherish the status quo,

if its education then just gimme a call and I'll sort you out. ).

[Tugger]

I agree with hboy, and I am sure that my university credentials are pretty solid

[La_Dolce_Vita]

I agree with hboy, and I am sure that my university credentials are pretty solid

 

I did accidentally deleted part of what I was saying in the previous post, but I certainly didn't mean that someone needs a university education to understand radical politics.

There is nothing patronising or reflecting an advocacy of laziness in my views.

[Sebrof]

I agree with hboy, and I am sure that my university credentials are pretty solid

 

I did accidentally deleted part of what I was saying in the previous post, but I certainly didn't mean that someone needs a university education to understand radical politics.

There is nothing patronising or reflecting an advocacy of laziness in my views.

 

But you are a bit lazy in your thinking and reading, Dolce.

 

You need to broaden your horizons a bit. If religion is the opium of the masses, Marxism is the religion of idle students. Like religion, adherence has everything to do with conviction and belief, and nothing to do with rational thought. As with religion, you never question your creed; you believe doubt signifies weakness; and salvation (in the form of anarchy) is always just around the corner - but never actually here and now. As with religion, "you are with me, or against me". There is no middle ground, no shades of grey, no reality.

 

Any previous or existing manifestation of Marxism is the work of a false prophet, not the real thing. This is convenient, because you never have to face up to the reality that it doesn't actually work in practice.

 

But you're young yet.... You'll learn that life is grey and complicated.

 

S

[La_Dolce_Vita]

Your position seems to be just the same as mine, but you seem to be an advocate of what exists today.

To say that age and experience will impart some understanding of the world that I am currently not aware of is to be nothing more patronising. I recognise what is wrong with the current system and believe anarchism to be a better, if not the best system. But I am not stupid enough to ignore other people's opinions and criticise anarchism. I am still not 100% sure whether anarchism is attainable in the long term, but it has existed before.

Though I would say that your comments about "...false prophets and not the real thing..." and "...salvation(in the form of anarchy) is always just round the corner.." are related to communism, not anarchism. And besides, where there may be differences of opinion on the left there are a plethora of different political ideas and solutions, some reformist, some radical but are capitalist. You have neoconservatives, neoliberals, third-way, neoclassical, social democrats, liberals, etc., all trying to resolve the problem of a system that does not work.

 

I can understand why people are so miffed though. It doesn't seem very fair that there is such a difference in wages, the work done, and especially at this time job security between the private and public sector. It is probably the same situation in the UK yet the proportionate size of the government is much smaller than the Isle of Man?

[hboy]

It is probably the same situation in the UK yet the proportionate size of the government is much smaller than the Isle of Man?

 

Here you are also wrong. There were some interesting surveys in the Times a few weeks back regarding Gordon Browns 'economic miracle' in employment since 1997. In some regions of the UK - largely deprived areas where government jobs have been shunted to in the last 10 years - public servants can represent between 35 and 40% of the working population in that region which is way higher than here. There was also credible evidence given that most of the jobs that Brown has taken credit for creating since 1997 have been created in the public sector and as such the employment stats have been massaged heavily. That is why you have hundreds of £100kpa 'ethnic diversity' officers on poxy town councils up and down the UK.

 

By the way when I said

 

spend taxpayers money going on 5 courses a year to qualify you to do exactly nothing

 

I was not referring to your university course but to what seems to be standard practice in government in paying for expensive courses for anyone interested in doing them that achieve no real value for anyone at the end of the day. Therefore, I am certainly not envious of whatever course you are doing at your top class Uni in Salford.

 

Never mind for a man that claims to have no chip on his shoulder you came back with the ultra patronising

 

if its education then just gimme a call and I'll sort you out

 

Just to reinforce your highly elevated sense of intellectual self esteem.

 

You really are an irritating self righteous little twat.

[Dunroamin]

By the way when I said

 

spend taxpayers money going on 5 courses a year to qualify you to do exactly nothing

 

I was not referring to your university course but to what seems to be standard practice in government in paying for expensive courses for anyone interested in doing them that achieve no real value for anyone at the end of the day. Therefore, I am certainly not envious of whatever course you are doing at your top class Uni in Salford.

 

Never mind for a man that claims to have no chip on his shoulder you came back with the ultra patronising

 

if its education then just gimme a call and I'll sort you out

 

Just to reinforce your highly elevated sense of intellectual self esteem.

 

You really are an irritating self righteous little twat.

 

Far be it for me to be patronising but hear bloody hear Hboy but would love to see Dolce Vita revisit his comments on this site when he has grown up just to see him squirm with embarassment at his naivety!!

[johnquayleiom]

However, I have had dealings with various departments recentl and they, to a person, have been helpful and co-operative.

 

In the past few years I've found the income tax people amazing pleasant and helpful to deal with, it's almost been a pleasure.

 

However, I suspect that some people assume everyone on the government payroll works in government office or thereabouts and completely overlooks the amount of people who work hard in our hospitals, schools, police and other services

 

I agree income tax staff are very pleasant. The only problem being that they seem to be useless - 3 times this last year I had problems with them not updating my details when they said they would, which in turn affected my wages - I know I will get it back at the end of the tax year but thats not the point.

 

Anybody dealt with the rates department? last time I spke with them I was ready to go round and throttle them all for their smart assed comments.

[La_Dolce_Vita]

Never mind for a man that claims to have no chip on his shoulder you came back with the ultra patronising

 

But Hboy from where I am sitting you put yourself in that position by being equally as patronising in assuming you know better than I do, and because there appears to be feeling of (not sure what to call it) anti-intellectualism running through your posts. You give the impression of someone who is offended by something they admittedly do not understand, do not want to understand, and then accuse me of intellectual snobbery and of being patronising. And if you find I am patronising I am still puzzled as to why it is you particularly who feels patronised. I don't think I am better than you.

And you don't seem to have recognised that if I believe in something then I am going to be righteous about it but I am not self-righteous in the sense of being ignorant about others views.

 

but would love to see Dolce Vita revisit his comments on this site when he has grown up just to see him squirm with embarassment at his naivety!!

 

...because demonstrating where I am being naive is too easy. Well if these wondrous secrets that are yet to be unveiled consist of explanations of how wages work, how starting up business works, how government is funded, productivity, etc. or any other basics of capitalist economics then I will be very disappointed. I didn't come to have radical politics without recognising the problems of the current system.

 

Here you are also wrong. There were some interesting surveys in the Times a few weeks back regarding Gordon Browns 'economic miracle' in employment since 1997. In some regions of the UK - largely deprived areas where government jobs have been shunted to in the last 10 years - public servants can represent between 35 and 40% of the working population in that region which is way higher than here. There was also credible evidence given that most of the jobs that Brown has taken credit for creating since 1997 have been created in the public sector and as such the employment stats have been massaged heavily. That is why you have hundreds of £100kpa 'ethnic diversity' officers on poxy town councils up and down the UK.

 

Thank you for kindly pointing that out.... On seeing how large the Island's government was I thought it was much larger. 35%-40%! That is big government.

But with what you are saying about the salaries of ethnic diversity officers, how are the salaries of civil servants calculated, is it to a large extent abitrary?

 

I suppose what I would like to know is whether the Isle of Man has a bloated government. How do you know when too many people are employed in government? I does strike me as weird that somewhere as small as the Isle of Man in terms of population requires such a large government, but maybe I am being ignorant of something.

[Freggyragh]

Never mind for a man that claims to have no chip on his shoulder you came back with the ultra patronising

 

But Hboy from where I am sitting you put yourself in that position by being equally as patronising in assuming you know better than I do, and because there appears to be feeling of (not sure what to call it) anti-intellectualism running through your posts. You give the impression of someone who is offended by something they admittedly do not understand, do not want to understand, and then accuse me of intellectual snobbery and of being patronising. And if you find I am patronising I am still puzzled as to why it is you particularly who feels patronised. I don't think I am better than you.

And you don't seem to have recognised that if I believe in something then I am going to be righteous about it but I am not self-righteous in the sense of being ignorant about others views.

 

but would love to see Dolce Vita revisit his comments on this site when he has grown up just to see him squirm with embarassment at his naivety!!

 

...because demonstrating where I am being naive is too easy. Well if these wondrous secrets that are yet to be unveiled consist of explanations of how wages work, how starting up business works, how government is funded, productivity, etc. or any other basics of capitalist economics then I will be very disappointed. I didn't come to have radical politics without recognising the problems of the current system.

 

Here you are also wrong. There were some interesting surveys in the Times a few weeks back regarding Gordon Browns 'economic miracle' in employment since 1997. In some regions of the UK - largely deprived areas where government jobs have been shunted to in the last 10 years - public servants can represent between 35 and 40% of the working population in that region which is way higher than here. There was also credible evidence given that most of the jobs that Brown has taken credit for creating since 1997 have been created in the public sector and as such the employment stats have been massaged heavily. That is why you have hundreds of £100kpa 'ethnic diversity' officers on poxy town councils up and down the UK.

 

Thank you for kindly pointing that out.... On seeing how large the Island's government was I thought it was much larger. 35%-40%! That is big government.

But with what you are saying about the salaries of ethnic diversity officers, how are the salaries of civil servants calculated, is it to a large extent abitrary?

 

I suppose what I would like to know is whether the Isle of Man has a bloated government. How do you know when too many people are employed in government? I does strike me as weird that somewhere as small as the Isle of Man in terms of population requires such a large government, but maybe I am being ignorant of something.

 

Maybe??????

[manxman8180]

Oh look I'm replying to the post directly above

 

 

pointless quoting for the win

[hboy]

and because there appears to be feeling of (not sure what to call it) anti-intellectualism running through your posts.

 

Jesus Christ just because I don't agree with your posts I'm now accused of being being anti-intellectualist. You really have a MONUMENTALLY high opinion of yourself and your place in the intellectual food chain. Funny then that most posts agreed with what I said rather than what you said. I really cannot understand where you get that CATASTROPHICALLY high opinion of your own intellectual value from.